First I want to apologize if I haven't been visiting your blogs as much lately. I've been awfully busy at work and of course when I'm not working I want to spend quality time with the dogs and cats. I've been thinking I'll have to scale back on posts to this blog to once or twice a week, maybe less, but I just had to do today's post because I wanted anyone interested to now about the great deal on Besame's website. Their sweet heart lip glazes are now $5.00 each!
Anyone who reads this blog probably knows that Besame is my favorite cosmetic's company. In fact with the exception of my Burt's Bee's BB cream it is the only cosmetic's brand I use. First off they make gorgeous vintage inspired cosmetics that really look like the orginals right down to the packaging. Secondly they are cruelty free, no animal testing, which is a cosmetics must for me. I am already fanatical about Besame's lipsticks, I love their opaque one coat coverage and era authentic colors (see these posts: post one, post two, post three) I tend to prefer a semi-matte lip stick, and naturally glosses are well, glossy. Still when I saw them on sale for $5.00 It was a bargain I couldn't resist and I decided to spring for the Rose glaze. Naturally like all Besame products the lip glaze arrived beautifully packaged.
The color in the container is an opalescent pink with a faint lilac tinge.
You can see the Rose glaze is opalescent and sheer with an purple tinge to its pinkness. I found the color almost invisible on my lips when applied alone, it just gave the faintest hint of shimmer, I didn't bother to take a picture. Then I decided to follow some advice on the Besame website and tried layering it over my Besame Exotic pink lipstick one of my favorite colors which unfortunately is no longer in stock. It is subtle but I really liked the effect. Here is my Exotic Pink lipstick without the glaze.
and here it is with the glaze on top. In outdoor lighting:
and indoor:
Now is definitely the time to snatch up a Besame lip glaze is you are interested for $5.00 you can have shiny, glossy, vintagey lips!
Tommorow, March 3, the 106th anniversary of the birth of actress Jean Harlow:
who I think embodied the decadent glamour of Hollywood's pre-code era more then any other star. With her pencil thin dramatically arched brows, cupids bow lips and halo of platinum curls, Harlow's look was nothing if not distinctive. Clearly she was a girl who loved her cosmetics, and her appearances in numerous 1930s beauty adverts show that her fans where playing close attention to her look. One cosmetic that Harlow sees to have been particularly devoted too, powder
Considering the platinum goddesses's devotion to the cosmetic I figured the anniversary of her birth would be a good time to do a review of my own personal favorite powder.
Besame Vanilla Rose powder. Now Harlow was tragically young, only 26, when she died of kidney failure, so she never had to contend with the problem that has made me leery of powders: aging skin. In less then a month I'll be 39 and powder is one cosmetic that gets tricky with advancing age. Powder can settle on wrinkles and dry patches making the more noticeable. For this reason I used to avoid powder completely. However, I wear a very creamy foundation, Burt's Bees CC cream. I love the creaminess and lightness of this foundation, but it can sometimes get a bit greasy and shiny or rub off completely. That's why I decided to give the Besame Vanilla Rose powder a shot. I love Besame, but I had previously tried their Lavendar Brightening Powder and it was the only one of their cosmetics that I underwhelmed me. I really felt it left a chalky texture on my skin. So I wasn't prepared to love Vanilla Rose, but I do! It's a very, very faint pink that suits the fairest of skin tones. The website says it corrects green and blue tones, I find I have more redness, but I still think this works well for me. It really doesn't impart any color, just brightens and sets make up! The video below is from Besame and shows how to apply the powder and then set it with their finishing brush:
I take lighter approach. I don't have the finishing brush so I just tap the container, while closed of course, against the edge of the sink and then pat on a tiny bit with the puff. I'm very careful not to overdo it. I certainly don't follow Harlow's advice and count my whole face, and no way am I following her step 2 press powder into tiny lines! The effect of powder application is definitely subtle, but I think I see a difference: Here I am minus powder (and yes I was taking a selfie with a can of Spam, I occasionally love to indulge in some spam):
Here I am on another day with powder:
Now all I need is a glamorous boudoir a la Harlow to apply it in!
Besame Vanilla Rose powder retails for $22.00 and can be purchased on the Besame website.
As much as I love vintage clothing and hair, and to a lesser extent make up like a good red lip, there is one aspect of vintage style beauty I have never been keen on: perfume.
I was always confused by the dizzying array of perfume options, put off by the price, and most importantly I never much liked how they smelled. In fact until recently I think the only time I wore perfume in the last 15 years was on my wedding day in 2001. Still I liked the idea of perfume:
It certainly seemed an important part of vintage beauty rituals which is why I was intrigued when my favorite cosmetics company Besame (I've written about their lipsticks here, and here, and here) came up with their Decades of Fragrance Collection.
At last this was perfume I could understand, aimed at the vintage fanatic, each perfume is meant to capture the essence of a different decade. As a vintage lover who likes to flit from one decade to the next this really appealed to me, I liked the idea of changing my perfume to match the decade of my outfit. Also while the perfume is definitely not cheap, each rollerball costs $25.00, it is more economical then many department store perfumes I have seen. I decided to take the perfume plunge and try fragrance representing my three favorite decades: the 1920s, 1930s, and 1950s.
The 1920s perfume is described as having notes of mandarin, jasmine, and cocoa (as well as a bunch of other stuff). I have no clue what notes are, but this one smelled quite good to me. I did feel it smelled a bit cocoa-ey and fruity and I could see it in on the neck of a flapper in a jazzy speakeasy, which of course is the idea. I definitely like wearing it with my few 20s outfits, even if no one else knows it is there, it seems to fade quickly on me, I do.
The 30s perfume is, to my nose at least, stronger smelling then the 1920s one. It is described as embodying Marlene Dietrich, cigarettes and seduction, which even if it isn't my look has a definite appeal.
Some of the notes are mandarin, tobacco, and vanilla, and I do notice a subtley smokey aspect in this one. It's a bit darker then the others, which is appropriate for a dark and troubled decade in history. The 1930s are the decade that first got me into vintage and I have lots of 30s outfits and I do like wearing this fragrance with them, it's currently the lowest of my three vials which shows how much I wear it! It adds the perfect touch to a 30s look and it seems to last on my a bit longer on me then the others.
The last fragrance I tried was the 1950s once.
The 50s are, tied with the 1930s, my favorite decade. 1950s, as well as 30s, looks make up the majority of my wardrobe, and I would say my day to day look is usually somewhat 1950s.
The 1950s fragrance is described as evoking Billie Holliday
who I adore (after all what other Diva would let her dog chew on her shoes), with a floweryy scent of gardenia and frescia. I find this to be the prettiest smelling scent straight out of the bottle. It smells powdery and like flowers and make up in a good way. Picture the most glamorous make up table you can imagine:
Sadly it fades a little quickly on me, so I need to reapply it multiple times if I want the scent to last all day. Still I wear it quite a lot, and its a bit of mystery to me why there seems to be more of this one then the 1930s one in the bottle because I really think I wear this one more. It adds just the right sweet scent to my 1950s style dresses and jeans.
Since each Besame fragrance retails for $25 dollars I was able to get three for about the price of one department store fragrance, and they all smell, at least to me, infinitely better then any of the better known perfumes I have sampled.
My only complaint is they seem to fade quickly, but that may just be my body chemistry, perhaps I reject perfume? I haven't read any comments on the Besame website from anyone else saying the fragrances fade quickly. It is also somewhat mitigated by the fact that they come in a rollerball:
and thus are easy to carry with you and reapply. Overall I am very happy I purchased these fragrances and I am calling this post Besame Decades of Fragrance part 1 because I hope to try the other scents 1910, 1940, and 1960 soon!
Is there anything more evocative of vintage beauty then classic red lipstick?
I don't think so. Nearly all the stars during Hollywood's golden age sported glamorous pouts in various hues of scarlet, and many more average ladies alive during the time period did as well. Now I am by no means a make up expert, in fact I'm not very skilled with make up at all, so if you want good vintage make up tips I urge you to look else where (I will include a list of links later in this post) but I do wear lipstick almost every day and it is always Besame lipstick.
Besame is a cosmetics company that was founded by the beautiful Gabriela Hernandez.
She started the company in 2004 motivated by her life long love of vintage style, vintage cosmetics, and most specifically classic red lipstick! Here is what the company has to say about their products:
"Through a keen eye for color and historical expertise, we recreate modern reproductions of classic luxury makeup from the 1920s, ‘30s, ‘40s, and ‘50s, designed to make women feel elegant, inspired, and empowered by their beauty. Pairing innovative, cutting edge technology with a historical milieu, our colors and formulations are painstakingly hand-crafted to a minutia of detail, from our custom-designed gold compacts to our signature chrysanthemum motifs."
Besame lipsticks are indeed super authentic from the gold bullet packaging:
To the triangular shape of the lipstick in the tube
these cosmetics are just like the vintage originals
and of course the colors are spot on too.
Perhaps most importantly Besame cosmetics are never tested on animals and are made from high quality ingredients. A nice thing about Besame is that while they are known for their reds they have other colors as well. Here are pictures of the 9 shades I've tried. Besame Red- This is the companies signature shade a cooler blue-tone red with a nice bright tone.
Cherry Red-A 1930s cherry red shade that can be worn as a stain or more matte.
Red Hot Red- The warm red made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s.
Exotic Pink-A matte bright flamingo pink based on 1950s shades.
Carmine-A neutral orange red based on 1930s shades
Portrait Pink- A matte pastel baby pink with no shimmer, based on 1960s shades
American Beauty-A 1940s cool berry shade
Red Velvet-a deep matte 1940s red
Noir Red-A deep plum 1920s shade
The nice thing about Besame lipsticks is they have a high pigment so one coat gives full coverage. Also, like traditional vintage lipsticks, they are all matte or semi-matte so that you get that classic vintage look. Besame lipsticks are available in two forms. The economical matchsticks
which retail for $6.00 and let you try out the color. Each matchstick set comes with six samples that are easy to apply. The matchsticks are how I sampled nearly all the red shades I've shown here. Besame lipsticks retail for $22.00
but offer some distinct advantages over the matchsticks. For one thing the match sticks are difficult to store and after you use one stick its very difficult to store it and use it again even if color remains. The lipsticks of course don't have that problem and since the pigment is so concentrated they last a very long time. I've had some of my besame tube lipsticks for over 3 years and they are still nearly full of product. There are also some shades, including three of my favorites, exotic pink, debutante pink, and carmine, that are not available in matchstick form. The shape of the besame lipsticks is designed so that you can line your lips and apply color. Here is a video showing how:
Being a make up klutz I still find this difficult and for the vibrant red shades I use either the match sticks or the besame lip liner and a regular drugstore lipstick brush. If you want to add some vintage glamour to your make up bag you absolutely can't go wrong with besame lipsticks. The company also doesn't stop at lipstick. They make mascara, powder, and perfume. The cosmetics are available online and in Sephora stores. I promised I'd end this post with some links to people more knowledgable about vintage beauty, here you go: Bobby Pin Blog
